CA – Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Ever since the Inquisition issued a warrant for Anthony's arrest, the teleportation arrays in every church had been placed under strict guard. The Shas Principality had even conducted a sweeping search, yet not a single clue regarding Anthony's whereabouts had been found.
It was as if Anthony had vanished into thin air.
Although Liz and June had captured Tang Qiu and Lola, their focus was still primarily on Anthony.
Anthony was a bishop; capturing him was far more valuable than apprehending a minor priest.
The Inquisition may have operated outside the center of power, but that didn't mean they were willing to bow their heads.
Quite the opposite, in fact. The Inquisition had always been at odds with the middle and upper echelons of the Holy See. Having finally caught a bishop slipping up, they certainly weren't going to let it go easily.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent two Inquisitors directly. After all, the entire Inquisition only had four Inquisitors in total.
The lack of clues about Anthony didn't mean they would give up; the teleportation arrays still had to be guarded.
Without the clamor of the day, the tranquil night had a way of numbing the senses. Inside the vast, deserted chapel, only the teleportation array shimmered with a faint white light. The knight guarding it stared intently in its direction, his focus starting to waver after the long watch.
A dark shadow flitted past outside the chapel. The knight instinctively glanced up. Just then, the teleportation array flared with a brilliant white light, and a figure completely concealed in a pure black cloak slowly materialized within it.
The knight's attention snapped back. He drew his longsword and approached the array, demanding, "Who goes there?"
The figure turned its head to look at the knight. The knight's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a hemline peeking out from under the cloak. The dark green pattern made his expression shift slightly. "Bishop Anthony?"
The figure chanted an incantation. A blast of white light struck the knight, sending him flying into a wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The figure strode away, quickly exiting the chapel.
The knights resting on the second floor heard the commotion and rushed down. Someone went to help the injured knight, who grabbed his companion's hand and whispered, "It's Bishop Anthony. Report to Inquisitor Liz, quickly."
The knights split into two teams. One began searching the area around the chapel, while the other used the teleportation array to go to the Bill Church.
In a small alley near the chapel, Mario held a longsword to Anthony's neck. He crushed a teleportation scroll in his hand, and a white light enveloped them both, making them vanish on the spot.
In an inconspicuous manor within the main city of Bill, Anthony and Mario appeared in an open space. Anthony carefully tried to move away from the sword at his neck. His fingers twitched, but before he could utter an incantation, a bracer was clamped onto his arm.
He turned to face the expressionless Mario, forcing a smile. "I've done as Archbishop Reese asked," he probed. "When will she let me go?"
Mario pushed him toward the manor's dungeon. "She'll let you go when she feels like it."
Hearing this, Anthony felt a slight sense of relief. After falling into Reese's hands, he had thought he wouldn't live much longer. He hadn't expected her to spare his life.
This rekindled a spark of hope within him.
"I've already told her everything I can. If Archbishop Reese has any other requests, I'll do them." All Anthony wanted now was to survive.
Mario led him to the dungeon entrance and shoved him inside without a word.
Anthony watched Mario leave, his expression slowly darkening. He raised a hand to fiddle with the bracer on his arm, anxiety and impatience flickering in his eyes.
Since being brought to the cell, Tang Qiu hadn't seen Liz or June again. They didn't interrogate her, but they also gave her no opportunity to defend herself. Their attitude—that they wouldn't let her go, evidence or not—left Tang Qiu feeling rather helpless.
Do minor priests have no human rights? Tang Qiu sighed. Although, from the Holy See's perspective, she wasn't exactly innocent.
Five or six days had passed since the night Reese had come to "visit" her. In that time, Reese hadn't appeared again, but Archbishop Cambecus's attendant priest, Willie, had come once more.
Besides dealing with Willie, Tang Qiu spent the rest of her time focused on practicing light magic, patiently waiting for Reese to make her move.
She had a fair amount of confidence in Reese's abilities.
Reese didn't keep Tang Qiu waiting for too long. The day after Willie's departure, the cell door was opened, and a knight came in to lead Tang Qiu out.
The place she was held was very close to the room where Lola was confined. This was the first time she had seen Lola since her own imprisonment.
Because Lola was, after all, a fifth-generation vampire, it would take some time for the power of light to erode her and turn her to ash, even trapped in a light formation. Thus, Tang Qiu hadn't been too worried, believing she could hold out for a while.
However, upon seeing Lola's current state, her heart sank slightly.
After enduring the erosion of light for so long, Lola's spirit was on the verge of collapse. Her palms were as black as charcoal, and her face was covered in marks from the burns of holy flames. Her head was bowed, but when she heard footsteps, her hand twitched. She slowly raised her head, her crimson eyes filled with exhaustion.
Tang Qiu stood beside June, watching Lola with a calm expression. She recalled what Lucille had once told her—that Lola had ascended from the sixth generation to the fifth—and her brow furrowed imperceptibly.
It seems her power isn't stable yet.
June glanced at the blonde priest beside her and said flatly, "Look how much pain she's in."
Tang Qiu replied with composure, "You could put her out of her misery."
"Though she is a sinful vampire, the Light Goddess teaches us to have compassion for all living things." Tang Qiu's tone was filled with piety, her admiration for the Light Goddess clear for anyone to see. "I believe that includes vampires, doesn't it?"
"Wouldn't it be better to just purify them directly?"
A mocking smile touched the corner of June's mouth. "The vampires didn't show any compassion when they were slaughtering our clerics."
"That's because they worship the Dark God."
June sneered. "Since you want her to suffer less, why don't you purify her yourself?"
"Prove that she isn't your companion."
Tang Qiu met her gaze. June was staring at her with a malicious expression. Tang Qiu lowered her eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Alright."
She took out her staff of light, turned to face Lola, and raised it slightly.
Lola watched her, expressionless. Seeing that she had begun to chant, Lola was about to look away when she saw the blonde priest suddenly give her a wink.
She paused for a moment, then lowered her gaze slightly.
The incantation was long, so long that it still hadn't finished when a knight ran in and whispered something in June's ear.
June's expression grew grave. She signaled a nearby knight to take Tang Qiu back, then hurried away.
As Tang Qiu was leaving, she casually waved her staff in Lola's direction. A streak of white light silently fell into the formation, enveloping Lola.
The burning sensation vanished abruptly. Lola's constantly tense nerves relaxed, and her consciousness began to drift.
June hurried off with the knight. Not long after, Reese suddenly appeared at the cell's entrance.
A knight from the Inquisition saw her and froze, instinctively wanting to block her path, but he was deterred by a single glance from her. He could only turn and run to find June, who had just left.
Reese walked up to the formation imprisoning Lola, bent down slightly, and studied her for a few moments. A flicker of amusement crossed her eyes. "What a poor little dog."
Her voice was soft and distinctive. The drowsy Lola frowned, struggling to lift her head to see who had arrived.
Reese met her gaze, taking in the exhaustion and ferocity in her eyes, and smiled sweetly. She silently mouthed an incantation, and a flash of white light severed the chains on Lola's wrists.
Losing her support, Lola collapsed weakly to the ground, landing right at Reese's feet.
Without the suppression of the chains, the power of darkness within Lola slowly began to surface. Her muddled consciousness cleared, and the weakness in her body made her crave blood intensely. She unconsciously reached out, grabbed Reese's ankle, and slowly tightened her grip.
Mario, who was following Reese, saw this and stepped forward with a frown, about to shove Lola away. However, Reese stopped him with a raised hand.
"Hungry?" Reese looked thoughtfully at the vampire on the floor, who seemed to be begging like a wagging dog. She bent down, lifted her chin, and said with a grin, "How pathetic."
A fair wrist, with blue veins just before her eyes. Lola swallowed. Her crimson eyes flickered, her gaze fixed on Reese's wrist as cold as a viper's. She licked her fangs and suddenly lunged at Reese.
A golden light shielded Reese, and Lola was thrown back, losing consciousness completely.
Reese let out a low chuckle. "She really is like a dog," she teased. She gave Mario a look, and he went over, helped Lola up, and unfurled a teleportation scroll.
After Reese arrived at the cell, Mario had cleared everyone out. With Mario having teleported away with Lola, Reese had to go and release the blonde priest herself.
However, June returned just as quickly. Reese had just opened Tang Qiu's door when June rushed back with her people.
She glanced at the empty formation and asked coldly, "Where is the vampire?" She looked at the guard knight, but the knight, who had been driven out earlier, kept his head down and didn't dare to speak.
Reese glanced at June's foul expression and kindly answered her. "I know."
"I saw her purified into ash."
June's face began to darken.
Tang Qiu emerged from the room, seconding Reese's words with a smile. "Perhaps the light magic I just used was too powerful."
June stared at them coldly, demanding, "Archbishop Reese, what is the meaning of this?"
Reese's gaze sharpened. She looked at June with a half-smile and raised an eyebrow. "Lord Inquisitor, are you suggesting I'm lying?"
"...No." The title 'Lord' made beads of cold sweat form on June's forehead. She met Reese's gaze, and her anger slowly subsided. She lowered her head and said softly, "I didn't mean that."
She couldn't afford to provoke a Red-robed Archbishop... June's hands, hanging at her sides, slowly clenched into fists.
Reese chuckled softly. "I didn't think you would dare," she said in a gentle voice.
She started to leave with Tang Qiu, but June's eyes flickered. She raised a hand to block Tang Qiu and said to Reese, her face devoid of expression, "She colluded with a vampire. She is a prisoner of the Inquisition."
Reese gave Tang Qiu a slightly surprised look. "Did my attendant priest collude with a vampire?"
Tang Qiu shook her head innocently. "I did not."
June glared at the blonde priest. "Since when were you Archbishop Reese's attendant priest?"
"Just now." Reese gestured for June to step aside, her tone casual. "By saying my attendant priest colluded with a vampire, are you implying that I have betrayed the Holy See?"
"No..."
"Then stand down." Reese's lips curled with a hint of disdain. "If you want her, have your Head Inquisitor Audrey come to me personally. You don't have the qualifications."
They faced off for a moment before June finally lowered her hand slowly and took a silent step back.
She watched Reese walk past her, followed by the blonde priest... June whispered quickly, "I will definitely drag you back to the Inquisition."
Tang Qiu's steps faltered. She turned to look at June, her sky-blue eyes blinking. Her expression suddenly softened, and her voice, full of sincerity, said, "I forgot to say, thank you for your hospitality during this time, Inquisitor."
June snorted coldly, watching their backs disappear with a grim expression.
A knight approached and said in a low voice, "Inquisitor Liz has arrived in Sevia and is searching for Bishop Anthony." Sevia was a small country next to the Bill Empire.
June took a deep breath and said resentfully, "We're going too." Capturing Anthony was the more important matter.
After getting the clue about Anthony's whereabouts, she had planned to deal with the vampire today and then take the blonde priest with her to Sevia.
She just hadn't expected Reese to interfere. That a Red-robed Archbishop would come to rescue a minor priest only made June more determined to drag the blonde priest back to the Inquisition.
June led the knights out. Just as she was about to send someone to borrow a carriage from Bishop Ralph, she caught sight of an unfamiliar cleric running toward them.
She looked over in confusion and heard the cleric say, "Inquisitor June, Priest Monica heard you were going to pursue Bishop Anthony, so she has already prepared a carriage for you."
So eager to send me away? June's face was grim as she boarded the carriage without a word.
The commotion they caused hadn't been small. Not only had Monica noticed, but Cambecus, who had been keeping an eye on the situation, was also aware.
When Willie heard that the blonde priest had chosen Reese, he couldn't help but glance at Cambecus's expression. Seeing his inscrutable look, Willie ventured, "This Grace really doesn't know what's good for her."
"Should I..."
Cambecus raised a hand to stop him, shaking his head slightly. "Leave her be. There will be another chance in Eden."
He pondered for a moment, then instructed Willie in a low voice, "Send people to find Anthony. You must find him before the Inquisition does."
Anthony was his confidant and knew many of his secrets. He absolutely could not fall into the hands of the Inquisition, or things would become much more troublesome to resolve.
Especially since he had just recently spoken to Anthony about Rose Manor.
Willie nodded. "Yes."
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